Wednesday, November 21, 2012

RCI Cybermagazine

A new study suggests a possible link between exposure to workplace chemicals and an increased risk in female workers incidence of breast cancer.

Dr Jim Brophy and Dr. Margaret Keith are occupational health researchers and adjunct faculty members at the University of Windsor, in Ontario. They are co-principals of the study which questioned a large population of women with breast cancer compared to an equally large number of women of the same age without breast cancer, al living in the same region.

The study involved research into the women’s work and lifestyle histories, and seems to point to an increased risk for women working in such areas as farming, canning plants, auto parts and plastics moulding firms. The suggestion is that all of these workplaces have a number of complex chemical compounds in their environment including heavy metals, pesticides, a variety of monomers and polymers, fire retardant chemcials, and solvents, which are either known to be either toxic, or endocrine disruptors.

Doctors Brophy and Keith say their work was peer reviewed and should be considered more closely by medical institutions , industry, and government.

Canada’s new foreign policy will be shaped by economic interests and not by the country’s traditional roles as peacekeeper and foreign aid provider, according to a document obtained by CBC News.

The draft of the highly classified document titled "Canadian foreign policy plan" states that Canada has to establish closer economic ties with the emerging markets of Asia, South America and Africa. Canada’s “influence and credibility with some of these new and emerging powers is not as strong as it needs to be and could be.”

According to activist Yves Engler, author of the book "The Ugly Canadian – Stephen Harper’s foreign policy", Canada’s focus on trade deals and business opportunities is not a surprise.